In a June 30

In a June 30

DYING SALMON — 250,000 Columbia River sockeye salmon dead or dying because of too-warm water temperatures

  • By KEN RIDLER The Associated Press
  • Tuesday, July 28, 2015 12:20am
  • News

By KEN RIDLER

The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — More than a quarter million sockeye salmon returning from the ocean to spawn are either dead or dying in the Columbia River and its tributaries due to warming water temperatures.

Federal and state fisheries biologists say the warm water is lethal for the cold-water species and is wiping out at least half of this year’s return of 500,000 fish.

“We had a really big migration of sockeye,” said Ritchie Graves of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “The thing that really hurts is we’re going to lose a majority of those fish.”

He said up to 80 percent of the population could ultimately perish.

Elsewhere in the region, state fisheries biologists in Oregon say more than 100 spring chinook died earlier this month in the Middle Fork of the John Day River when water temperatures hit the mid-70s.

Oregon and Washington state have both enacted sport fishing closures due to warm water, and sturgeon fishing in the Columbia River upstream of Bonneville Dam has been halted after some of the large, bottom dwelling fish started turning up dead.

Efforts by management teams to cool flows below 70 degrees by releasing cold water from selected reservoirs are continuing in an attempt to prevent similar fish kills among chinook salmon and steelhead, which migrate later in the summer from the Pacific Ocean.

The fish become stressed at temperatures above 68 degrees and stop migrating at 74 degrees. Much of the basin is at or over 70 degrees due to a combination that experts attribute to drought and record heat in June.

“The tributaries are running hot,” Graves said. “A lot of those are in the 76-degree range.”

In Idaho, an emergency declaration earlier this month allowed state fisheries managers to capture endangered Snake River sockeye destined for central Idaho and take them to a hatchery to recover in cooler water.

Of the 4,000 fish that passed Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, less than a fourth made it to Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. An average year is 70 percent.

“Right now it’s grim for adult sockeye,” said Russ Kiefer of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. He said sockeye will often pull into tributary rivers in search of cooler water, but aren’t finding much relief.

“They’re running out of energy reserves, and we’re getting a lot of reports of fish dead and dying,” he said.

Thirteen species of salmon and steelhead are listed as endangered or threatened in the Columbia River basin.

Don Campton of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said fish congregating in confined areas trying to find cool water makes them a target for pathogens.

“When temperatures get warm, it does stress the fish out and they become susceptible to disease,” he said.

Graves said that this year’s flow in the Columbia River is among the lowest in the last 60 years. But he said the system has experienced similar low flows without the lethal water temperatures. He said the difference this year has been prolonged hot temperatures, sometimes more than 100 degrees, in the interior part of the basin.

“The flow is abnormally low, but on top of that we’ve had superhot temperatures for a really long time,” he said.

More in News

A street sweeper on I Street in Port Angeles cleans up the street along the curbs of all the debris that blew down during Tuesday evening’s storm. Thousands were without power at the peak of the storm. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Storm causes power outages, road closures

Smaller weather system may hit Friday

Port Angeles funds lodging tax requests

Sixteen applications to undergo review

Port Townsend’s Water Street sewer project gets funds

City council authorizes contracts; construction to start in January

Port of Port Angeles commissioners approve 2025 budget

Board OKs project that would treat seawater to make it less acidic

Two injured after truck collides with tree

Two people were injured when the truck in which… Continue reading

Power out for thousands in Clallam County

More than 11,000 electric meters were without power in… Continue reading

Shay-Lyn Szczepanik and her daughter Raelynn, 5, of Port Angeles are wind blown as they try to watch the wild waves at the base of Ediz Hook on Tuesday as the storm approaches. Many other weather watchers went to the spit to see and feel the winds. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Storm surge

Shay-Lyn Szczepanik and her daughter Raelynn, 5, of Port Angeles are wind… Continue reading

Fire Marshal and floodplain administrator Phil Cecere answers questions with deputy floodplain administrator Greg Ballard on Monday night in Brinnon. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Jefferson commissioners update flood code

More than 70 people attend hearing in Brinnon

PASD board accepts Brewer’s resignation

School officials highlight performance of Native American students

Port Angeles lifts Stage III water restrictions

The city of Port Angeles has lifted all of… Continue reading

Chipotle Mexican Grill opens today at 2021, Suite B, U.S. Highway 101 in Port Angeles. The fast food restaurant features freshly prepared burritos, burrito bowls, salads and tacos. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Chipotle opens in Port Angeles

Chipotle Mexican Grill opens today at 2021, Suite B, U.S. Highway 101… Continue reading

Agnes Kioko and Regina Mbaluku of Kenya and Bonita Piper, board president of Path From Poverty, right, meet with Sequim volunteers who cut and sell wood as a fundraiser. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Connection helps Kenyan women with opportunities, relationships

This effort, gifts from thousands of miles away, aren’t just… Continue reading